Oil press mat



plunger and platen'of a press.

Patented June 27, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHCE om PRESS MAT George V. Sumner, Columbia,

S. C., assignor of one-half to Frank Sumner, Montreal, Quebec,

Canada Application January-14, 193s, serial No. 185,057 s ciaims. (o1. 13s- 426) vegetable seeds or meats.

In the manufacture of cottonseed oil, linseed oil, and some other Vegetable oils, very heavy pressures must be used to effect separation of the oil from the seeds or meats. Customarily a quantity or batch of meats is wrapped in a mat, designated an oil press mat, and placed between the The press members are caused to slowly approach eachother and to act upon the interposed mat and its contents,

.. the seeds or meats being flattenedinto a cake the upper and lower fiat surfaces of which are covV ered by the mat, likewise the ends. 'I'he oil,` expressed from the meats ows through thev apertures in the mat and is collected. After this pressing operation has been completed the cake and itsenclosing mat are removed from the press and the mat subsequently unwound from the cake of dry meats. 'Ihe mats are intended to'be repeatedly used and are for Vthis reason made as durable as possible.

During the time that the meats are being subjected to such heavyV pressures, any matenclosing the same is also subjected to extreme stress, particularly at its unsupported ends and mat failures are of frequent occurrence. Inasmuch as the mats most widely madeus'e of are costly to make, the expense involved in practicing the process is materiallyincreased when it is necessary to frequently replace damaged mats with new ones. It has long been recognized that animal hair may advantageously be employed in the fabrication of oil press mats by reason of its tensile strength and extensibility under strain. Animal hair mats are, however, expensive in that the first cost of the animal hair from which the mat is fabricated is relatively high. Notwithstanding this high cost animal hair mats are now in widespread use, particularly mats the threads or cords ofwhich are fabricated of human hair. l

It has previously been suggested that cotton 'thread or cords mightbe made use of with advantage in the fabrication of oil press mats Vbut such mats, fabricated wholly or in partof cotton thread, which have up until this time been made use of, have not proven to be satisfactory in actual use, cotton thread being relatively inelastic or inextensible and a mat fabricated of this material by any previously known process having a decided tendency to split or rupture under pressure due to such lack of elasticity. I have discovered, however, that by making use of cords formed of cotton threads twisted and assembled in a novel -manner, an oil press mat fabricated wholly or partially of cotton may be used, which mat is durable and which can be used as a satisfactory substitute `for the best animal hairmats'available. The ordinary oil press mat, when unfolded,.has the shapeV of` an elongated rectangle,` the longitudinally extending l() threads or cords comprising the Ywarp threads and the transversely extending threads or cords comprising the woof threads. When the mat is functioning the WarpV threads are subjected to by far the heaviest tensional strains and it is 15 essential thatthese warp threads or cords have the capacity to extend themselves or stretch very substantially to avoid breakage. l

In accordance with my invention an oil press mat is `fabricated the warp cords of which are 2,0. of cotton, the Woof threads being of any suitable material suchas cotton, animal'hair, wool, or mixtures of such materials. Each warp cord preferebly includes a plurality of cotton strands, for instance three strands, and each strand a plurality of single threads, for instance sixteen threads. Cords of this type are by no means unknown but it` has heretofore been universal practice in manufacturing such cords, to twist thef thread in one direction, each strand in the 3Q opposite direction, and to twist the strands, forming the completed cord, in the direction opposite to that in which the threads were twisted in the formation of the strand, that is, in the same direction that each thread was originally twisted in its formation. 'I'he completed cord is substantially inextensible. In forming a cord of cotton or other substantially inextensible fiber, for use in the fabrication of an oil press mat, I twist the completed threads, in the formation of each 40 strand, in the same direction that each thread was twisted in its original formation and thereafter form a cord by intertwisting a plurality of such strands in thisA same direction. When cords so fabricated are made use of as warp cords of an oil press `mat the mat may be longitudinally extended, or may stretch, when submitted to the action of the press platen and plunger, the individual cords being extensible to a substantial degree by reason of the manner in which they are Y twisted during fabrication. Oil press mats hav- 4include a plurality of warp ing under heavy pressures many times repeated, while at the same time are low in rst cost.

Advantageously the Woof threads may be of softer and more extensible material, such as animal hair, but this is not essential. Likewise animal hair may be used, if preferred, to some extent in the fabrication of the warp threads. Thus for instance a completed oil press mat may threads fabricated of animal hair, in addition to the warp threads fabricated of cotton in the manner specified, or certain of the warp cords may include strands of animal hair. Where the Woof cords are of cotton it is preferred that they be fabricated by twisting in the novel manner above described. Other modied forms of the invention may be made use of but in everyrinstance an oil press mat constructed in accordance with the invention will include a plurality of cords, fabricated of cotton or other inextensible material, in the manner described.

In the accompanying drawing several types of oil press mats embodying the invention are illustrated by way of example and other modications will readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art. t

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of an unfolded oil press mat embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a section of the mat upon a larger scale, showing the details of the weave;

Figure 3 is an edge view of the mat;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section, taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a transverse section through a portion of the mat, taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a View showing a thread, a strand, and a cord, showing the direction of twist in each instance;

Figures 7 and 8 are plan views, respectively, of portions of oil press mats embodying the invention but which are woven somewhat differently from that shown in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, thai is, having in addition to warp cords fabricated solely of cotton, warp cords of other materials.

Referring first to Figure 6. There is here illustrated at the right a cotton cord of approximately the size which may most advantageously be made use of in the formation of an oil press mat. It is preferably built up by twisting together a plurality of strands, for instance three strands, the direction of twist being indicated as a right-hand twist, by the diagonal lines crossing the cord. To the left of the completed cord is shown one of the strands of which the cord is fabricated, this strand comprising approximately sixteen threads, each thread being twisted to the right during the formation of the strand. To the left of the strand is shown a single thread comprising a plurality of cotton fibers, the various fibers being also twisted to the right during the formation of the thread. Hence the completed cord comprises approximately forty-eight threads, all with the same direction of twist, i. e., to the right, the threads being divided into three groups, comprising three strands, the twist of the threads in the formation of the strand being also to the right. A cord fabricated in this way will stretch substantially when subjected to tensional forces whereas a cord fabricated in the customary manner, above described, has but slight extensibility.

In the preferred method of fabricating an elongated oil press mat such as shown in Figure 4 the warp threads, which are indicated at l0, are cotton cords of the type shown in Figure 6 and the Woof threads, indicated at l |,1nay advantageously be fabricated of animal hair, although this is not essential. Each warp cord preferably passes over two adjacent woof cords, then under the next two Woof cords, over the third pair, and so on, as shown clearly in Figure 4. As a result of this method of weaving, the surface of the completed oil press mat will be as shown in Figure 2, all exposed ber being cotton ber and the woof threads being concealed. When used in the expressing of oil, the cotton warp threads will stretch to an extent suicient to accommodate the shifting and longitudinally extending cake of seeds or meats. Longitudinal extensibility of the mat as a whole is likewise promoted when the woof threads are of softer and more resilient material, as for instance of animal hair, but for many uses the Woof threads may be fabricated of cotton also.

As has previously been pointed out, it is not essential that each and every warp cord of the mat be fabricated of cotton. Thus in the form of the invention shown in Figure 7 the outer margins of the mat, indicated at i2, have warp cords fabricated entirely of cotton Whereas the intermediate portion of the mat, indicated at I3, has warp cords which are fabricated of softer and more extensible material, for instance animal hair. In the form of mat shown in Figure 8 the outer margins, indicated at I4, embody warp cords fabricated entirely of cotton. The relatively narrow central strip indicated at l5 embodies warp cords fabricated of animal hair, whereas the two intermediate strips I5 are woven with warp cords each of which comprises a mixture of cotton and animal hair or other more extensible material, at least one strand of each cord being of cotton twisted in the manner described and one or more of the strands being fabricated of material other than cotton. Various other methods of making use of the principle of the invention may be devised to suit special circtunstances.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An oil press mat consisting of interwoven longitudinally extending warp and transversely extending woof cords, said mat being longitudinally extensible when subjected to tension in the direction of the warp cords and longitudinally contracting when such tensio-n is relieved, a substantial number of such Warp cords being fabricated of cotton ber, each such cotton warp cord having a plurality of strands each twisted in the same direction, and each strand consisting of a plurality of threads each twisted in the same direction as the strands.

2. An oil press mat consisting of interwoven longitudinally extending warp and transversely extending woof cords, said mat being longitudinally extensible when subjected to tension in the direction of the warp cords and longitudinally contracting when such tension is relieved, a substantial number of such warp cords being fabricated of cotton fiber, each such cotton warp cord having three strands each twisted in the same direction, and each strand consisting of sixteen threads each twisted in the same direction as the strands.

3. An oil press mat consisting of interwoven longitudinally Vextending warp and transversely extending woof cords, said mat being longitudinally extensible when the warpy cords are subjected to tension and longitudinally contracting when said tension is relieved, a substantial nurnber of such Warp cords being fabricated of cotton ber, each such cotton warp cord consisting of a plurality of strands and each strand comprising a plurality of threads,'the several threads being individually twisted in the same direction, each strand consisting of a group of threads twisted together in the same direction as the individual threads are twisted, and each cotton cord consisting of a plurality of strands twisted together in the same direction as are'the individual threads and strands.

GEORGE V. SUMNER. 

